The curse of Akkad

The large fields produced no grain

The flooded fields produced no fish

The watered garden produced no honey and wine...

    -From "The Curse of Akkad", written c. 4000 BP

Around 2,300 years BC, Sargon of Akkad united Mesopotamian city-states into what is considered to be the world's first empire. Stretching from Cyprus to Oman during the days of its might, the Akkadian empire suddenly collapsed after just a century of prosperity, as the whole northern region was abandoned for more than 300 years.

In Egypt, the Old Kingdom, which began with the 3rd Dynasty of kings in 2686 BC, was a period of internal security and prosperity. That is exactly when the pharaohs built their staggering pyramids, which are now one of the 7 wonders of the world. However, after the death of King Pepy II in 2184 BC, 19 pharaons took and lost the throne in just 25 years! By the end of this chaotic period, the Old Kingdom had completely collapsed.

Around the same time the Neolithic Cultures around Central China collapsed, the Longshan culture around the Yishu River and the Harappan civilisation of the Indus Valley have both majorly declined.

Of course, if we look deeper into every case study, we will find out that the extremely long reign of Pepy II meant he outlived many of his heirs, creating succession problems and throwing Egypt into a vortex of civil wars. We will also see that shortly before the demise Mesopotamia was invaded by hostile tribes. However, isn't it strange that all those cultures around the world collapsed roughly at the same time? Maybe there is something else that can explain this phenomenon? Well, if you have a look at my post a few weeks ago, you will see that all of those dramatic happenings correspond with yet another phase of cooling in the North Atlantic, namely the Bond Event 3.

So have we found the suspect?

Weiss et al. (1993) looked at the archaeological evidence from the town of Tell Leilan on the Habur Plains in northern Mesopotamia, the political capital of region in the 2nd millennium BC. Studying soil-stratigraphic units from the site, Weiss and his colleagues discovered soil conditions diagnostic of significant climatic change as well as alterations in hydrological regime. They identified increased aridity, intensified wind turbulence and increased dust veil as the conditions leading to low agricultural productivity in the region. The desertification caused the abandonment or reduction of Tell Leilan and other settlements on the Habur plains, and the collapse of the Akkadian economy dependant on imperialised agriculture of the region. The displaced populations continued to arrive to the southern villages, which were also suffering from the reduced flow from Euphrates. Overall, Weiss et al. (1993) attribute the collapse of Akkadian Empire solely to the ameliorating climatic conditions.

Another paper by Staubwasser et al. (2003) looks at the reasons behind the Harrapan civilisation decline. Around 4.2 ka BP this culture, located on the territory of modern Pakistan, transformed from a highly organised urban phase to a post-urban phase of smaller settlements accompanied by a southeastward migration of the population. Many large cities and cultural centres were almost completely abandoned while locations in northern India grew in population. Staubwasser and his colleagues have analysed a laminated sediment core from a site off the formerly active Indus Delta and have identified a corresponding sharp reduction in annual rainfall over the Indus watershed. The concordance of Harappan habitat tracking with this event has led them to suggest a causal relationship. A possible explanation was put forward that a reduction of the average annual rainfall over the Indus River watershed restricted Harappan farming in the Indus Valley and left large city populations unsustainable.

There is no direct evidence that Bond cycles were responsible for the deteriorating environmental conditions at the time, however, if you remember, the previous Bond event also corresponded with a very intense aridification period... Just a coincidence?

List of references:

Staubwasser, M., F. Sirocko, P. M. Grootes and M. Segl (2003) 'Climate Change at the 4.2 ka BP Termination of the Indus valley Civilization and Holocene South Asian Monsoon Variability', Geophysical Research Letters, 30, 8, 1425.
Weiss, H., M.-A. Courty, W. Wetterson, F. Guichard, L. Senior, R. Meadow and A. Curnow (1993) 'The Genesis and Collapse of Third Millennium North Mesopotamian Civilisation', Science, 261, 2154, 995-1004.